Barack Obama religion conspiracy theories

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Barack and Michelle Obama, their children, and Chief Justice John Roberts.
Barack Obama swearing the oath of office of the President of the United States using the Bible of Abraham Lincoln.

Barack Obama religion conspiracy theories — that he secretly follows a non-Christian religion, or that he is the Antichrist — have been suggested ever since Barack Obama began his campaign to become President of the United States in 2007. Like the Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories, these claims are promoted by a number of fringe theorists and political opponents. [1] [2]

Contents

[edit] Claims that Obama secretly practices Islam

See also: Public image of Barack Obama#Religion

Though Obama is a practicing Christian,[3] and he was chiefly raised by his mother and her parents who were Christians, both his father Barack Obama, Sr., and his stepfather Lolo Soetoro with whom he lived during his early childhood were nominally Muslims. Because of this minimal connection to Islam, a common claim lodged by conspiracy theorists is that Obama secretly practices Islam.

According to the Los Angeles Times false rumors saying that Obama was secretly a Muslim started during his campaign for the United States Senate in 2004 and had expanded through viral e-mails by 2006. The Times compared these rumors to earlier false rumors about 2000 presidental candidate John McCain, which were said to have been started by the campaign of his Republican rival George W. Bush.[4]

In June 2008, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, himself Jewish, spoke out to Jewish voters in Florida against false e-mail rumors which said that Obama was secretly a Muslim and did not support Israel. Bloomberg said: "I hope all of you will join me throughout this campaign in strongly speaking out against this fear mongering, no matter who you'll be voting for."[5]

Talk radio host Mark Williams, a leader in the populist Tea Party protest movement, described Obama as an "Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug" in remarks on his blog. When Williams appeared on the CNN show Anderson Cooper 360 in September 2009, he was asked if he really believed these statements, and he responded: “He's certainly acting like it. Until he embraces the whole country, what else can I conclude?”[6]

[edit] Qur'an rumors

A chain e-mail circulating during the presidential campaign claimed that Obama took his oath of office as a U.S. Senator in 2005 while placing his hand on a Qur'an rather than a Bible. This claim is false; Obama was sworn into office using a Bible, which he owned. The claim may have been inspired by a photo-op re-enactment of the 2007 swearing-in of U.S. Representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota, who used a Qur'an that had belonged to Thomas Jefferson.[7]

[edit] Madrassa rumors

An early version of a rumor that Obama had attended a "madrassa" (Islamic boarding school) during his childhood in Indonesia was found in an article published by Insight on the News, a now-defunct conservative magazine owned by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate owned Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church which also owns The Washington Times and newspapers in South Korea, Japan, and South America. The magazine's editor claimed that its source was a person working for the rival Hillary Clinton campaign, which denied the allegation. When interviewed by the New York Times Insight on the New's editor Jeff Kuhner refused to name his reporter's sources for the story.[8] The rumor was subsequently promoted by conservative talk show hosts, including Michael Savage and Rush Limbaugh.[9]

In fact, the school Obama attended in Indonesia was a public school where students wore Western clothing. Although Indonesia is a predominantly Muslim country, Obama's school was described by the Chicago Tribune as "so progressive that teachers wore miniskirts and all students were encouraged to celebrate Christmas." Obama had also attended a Catholic school in Indonesia for several years.[10]

[edit] Middle name "Mohammed" rumors

One chain e-mail claimed that President Obama's middle name is Mohammed or Muhammed; this is not and has never been true.[11][12]

[edit] Claims that Obama is the Antichrist

During the presidential campaign, one chain e-mail accused Barack Obama of secretly being the biblical Antichrist:

"According to The Book of Revelations the anti-christ is: The anti-christ will be a man, in his 40s, of MUSLIM descent, who will deceive the nations with persuasive language, and have a MASSIVE Christ-like appeal....the prophecy says that people will flock to him and he will promise false hope and world peace, and when he is in power, will destroy everything is it OBAMA??"[13]

In fact, the word Antichrist does not appear in the Book of Revelation (though it does appear in 1 John and 2 John); the Book of Revelation instead refers to The Beast. The Book of Revelation never mentions the Beast's age, nor does it include any references to "Muslim descent", as Islam did not exist at the time it was written.[13]

[edit] Political polls

Public opinion surveys carried out beginning in 2008 have shown that a number of Americans (predominately Republicans), believe that Obama is either a Muslim, is the Antichrist or both. In March 2008, a survey conducted by Pew Research Center found that 10% of respondents believed that he is a Muslim. Those who were more likely to believe he is a Muslim included conservative Republicans and Democrats, people who had not attended college, people who lived in the Midwest or the South, and people in rural areas.[14]

A University of Georgia study found that the percentage of Americans who believed that Obama is a Muslim remained constant at approximately 20% in September, October, and November 2008, despite frequent attempts by the media to correct this misperception. However, the study also showed that some people who had initially believed Obama to be a Christian, later believed the rumor that he is a Muslim. The survey found that respondents who had shifted to the misperception were generally younger, less politically involved, less educated, more conservative, and more likely to believe in Biblical literalism. According to Professor Barry Hollander, "These are groups of people who are generally distrustful of the mainstream media...So therefore journalists telling them that this is not true could actually have the opposite effect and make them more likely to believe the rumor."[15]

In August 2010, a Pew Research poll showed that 18% of Americans believed that Obama is a Muslim, and 31% of Republicans did so.[16]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Graham, David A. (February 12, 2010). "Know Your Conspiracies NEWSWEEK's guide to today's trendiest, hippest, and least likely fringe beliefs.". Newsweek. http://www.newsweek.com/id/233518. Retrieved April 21, 2010. 
  2. ^ Henig, Jess; Emi Kolawole (January 10, 2008). "Sliming Obama - Dueling chain e-mails claim he's a radical Muslim or a 'racist' Christian. Both can't be right. We find both are false.". Factcheck.org. http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/sliming_obama.html. Retrieved April 21, 2010. 
  3. ^ Miller, Lisa; Wolffe, Richard (July 12, 2008). "Finding His Faith: So much has been made about Barack Obama's religion. But what does he believe, and how did he arrive at those beliefs?". Newsweek. http://www.newsweek.com/id/145971. Retrieved March 25, 2010. 
  4. ^ Smears 2.0, Los Angeles Times, December 3, 2007
  5. ^ N.Y. Mayor urges Jewish voters to denounce Obama Muslim rumors, Associated Press, June 2, 2008
  6. ^ Edwards, David; Tencer, Daniel (September 15, 2009). "After weeks of softball coverage, CNN tears into Tea Party organizer". The Raw Story. http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/09/15/tea-party-leader-racist-in-chief/. Retrieved March 8, 2010. 
  7. ^ "Obama sworn in on his Bible". PolitiFact.com. December 20, 2007. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2007/dec/20/chain-email/obama-sworn-in-on-his-bible/. Retrieved March 8, 2010. 
  8. ^ "Anatomy of an anonymous political smear". International Herald Tribune. 2007-01-29. http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/29/news/rumor.php. Retrieved 2008-02-18. 
  9. ^ Bacon Jr, Perry (November 29m 2007). "Foes Use Obama's Muslim Ties to Fuel Rumors About Him". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/28/AR2007112802757_2.html. 
  10. ^ "Obama attended an Indonesian public school". PolitiFact.com. December 20, 2007. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2007/dec/20/chain-email/obama-attended-an-indonesian-public-school/. Retrieved March 8, 2010. 
  11. ^ "Not a Muslim; not Mohammed". PolitiFact.com. January 11, 2008. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2008/jan/11/chain-email/not-a-muslim-not-mohammed/. Retrieved March 8, 2010. 
  12. ^ "No Muhammed or Mohammed in Obama's name". PolitiFact.com. May 2, 2008. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2008/may/02/chain-email/no-muhammed-or-mohammed-in-obamas-name/. Retrieved March 8, 2010. 
  13. ^ a b "Complete distortion of the Bible". PolitiFact.com. April 2, 2008. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2008/apr/02/chain-email/complete-distortion-of-the-bible/. Retrieved March 8, 2010. 
  14. ^ "Obama Weathers the Wright Storm, Clinton Faces Credibility Problem.". Pew Research Center. 2008-03-27. http://people-press.org/report/?pageid=1277. 
  15. ^ University of Georgia (March 10, 2010). "Study explores belief in rumor that Obama is Muslim". Press release. http://www.uga.edu/news/artman/publish/printer_100310_Obama.shtml. Retrieved March 10, 2010. 
  16. ^ [1]

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